A Long Night
by fmfan1980
Summary: Dawn was stabbed so that her blood could be collected to open a doorway between Earth and another realm for revenge. And in opening the doorway, it creates a magical backlash in the other universe; a backlash that leads to the return of those thought dead. Now Buffy and some new friends must prevent the Whitewalkers from using the doorway to return to the Earth realm.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights, characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just as I don't own the rights to the characters, locations, or plots from Game of Thrones. They belong to their respective owners without whom this fanfiction would not have been possible. All reviews are welcome

 **Oxford University, 1700 hours**

Dawn stepped out of the Clarendon Institute building, home of the Faculty of Linguistics, and into the cool winter day. She had been studying for an upcoming paper that was due a month from now. And it was just as well; Dawn was glad to have to have some semblance of normalcy after the return of magic when she was almost wiped out of existence. Her sister, the Slayer known as Buffy Summers was in London with Giles, Xander, and Willow setting up the Summers Institute of Higher Learning. With a dearth of training facilities for Slayers other than DeepScan, run by Kennedy Williams, or 'help groups' like the Underground run by Faith for wayward Slayers, the Summers Institute was going to be a school.

A real school, with real teachers, teaching real subjects- a school which would be open to girls who were both normal and Potential Slayers. In addition, the Potential Slayers would be trained in an underground facility below the school itself.

The whole idea was Xander's really. As Dawn tightened the scarf around her neck and walked alongside the pedestrians on the sidewalk, she remembered the day that her ex-boyfriend had come to Buffy with an idea, "X-Men!" That's what he said before slamming the latest issue of the comic book onto the dining room table in the apartment that Buffy, Willow, and Dawn shared- an apartment they were lucky to have thanks to Buffy's waitressing job and Willow's job at a computer gaming studio where she was working as a programmer. Dawn was having breakfast that very day when she chuckled at the idea that Xander explained.

"A place where we train Slayers," Xander clapped his hands together with a grin on his lips. All the while Buffy and Willow stared at each other, and then at Dawn, and the three of them then turned to Xander once again who had his palms on the table and grinning at the three women, "you know, like Professor Xav…"

"And the Institute of Higher Learning," Dawn finished with her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at Xander, "really? We're following a comic book now?"

Willow chuckled at the pout on Xander's face before shaking her head at Xander, "but Xand, remember the whole Slayer Council thing? It wasn't exactly the greatest idea of all time."

"That didn't go down too well, Xand," Buffy reminded Xander, "I had to return the money I stole to fund the Council? Remember? It's one of the conditions Riley arranged with the government so that… you know… we don't go to jail?"

It had been two years since the return of magic and Xander's big idea. And since then, Giles had been using his connections to the British Government to fast track the new Summers Academy.

'It's supposed to be completed next year,' Dawn thought to herself as she tightened the scarf around her throat while the cool wind went through her hair, 'Willow's using her magic to create the space for the underground training site, and…'

"Dawn Summers?" Dawn's train of thought was interrupted upon hearing a male voice from behind her. She turned around and was about to say that she was indeed Dawn Summers when suddenly, she opened her mouth wide open and gasped as a long blade was pushed into her abdomen while the middle-aged man with blue eyes and red hair pulled her in and whispered into her ear, "I've been looking for you and your blood for a long time."

Dawn groaned as the mysterious man hugged her close while people streamed past her; the people unable to make out what was happening thanks to the man's overcoat obstructing the view of the blade being stabbed into Dawn. To the people walking past, the two of them looked like any couple making out in the middle of the sidewalk.

However, Dawn felt her body growing still and, as much as she tried, she could not scream out for help. Dawn then felt the blade being taken out of her before feeling the warmth of blood that gushed out. She hoped that the others around her could see the blood that flowed down the front of her abdomen before she felt something hollow and cylindrical being placed against the wound. Dawn panted hard as the sting of the cylinder being pressed into her wound was excruciating, but she still couldn't scream. After what seemed like hours, but was really little over a minute, the man pulled the cylinder away and then whispered in her ear, "if you die, you die. But if you don't, then tell your sister that this is what she gets for playing God with the lives of people. This is my vengeance for what she, you, and your friends took away from me. And now, all of you will die… the world will end in ice and darkness before being remade with me ruling the world." The man then stepped back, releasing Dawn, with a smile on his face.

As Dawn crumpled to the cold hard sidewalk, she saw people rushing up to her asking if she was okay, as the man grinned down at her body while screwing a top into the wide cylindrical jar that held thick red liquid. The man then turned and ran as fast as she could while more people rushed to her aid with a few others running after the man. But Dawn didn't know if he was captured or not since her eye lids started getting heavier and heavier by the second.

"Buffy," Dawn whispered before closing her eyes as her blood pooled on the sidewalk.

 **Three Hours later.**

"I'm looking for Dawn Summers, I'm her sister, where is she!" Buffy yelled out after rushing into the hospital and approaching the reception desk where the nurse looked up with eyes wide open, "where is she?" The nurse at the reception desk stared at the wild eyed girl, and then at the concerned faces of the redhead and brown haired, patch eyed, male rushing in behind her before turning back to the blonde who slammed her hands onto the surface of the table and yelled, "where is she!?" The nurse noticed a security officer walking towards them just as the redhead held onto the blonde girl's shoulder while the male leaned forward and gently spoke.

"This is Buffy Summers," the man said pointing at the blonde whose eyes were wet with tears and, at this point, panting just as the security officer arrived at the desk and asked what was happening.

"We received a call about my friend's sister being admitted to this hospital after an attack a few hours ago," the redhead, Willow, said eying the security officer and then the nurse behind the reception desk, "we were in London when we got the call and… and Buffy's really concerned."

"May I have a name?" the nurse asked Buffy who had her eyes closed while taking a deep breath.

"Dawn Summers," the man, Xander, said just as the doors to the lobby opened once again and a grey hair older man rushed in."

"Buffy, Xander, Willow? Where's Dawn?"

"Sir, are you with this group?" asked the Security officer as he raised his hand at Giles.

"I am," Giles nodded his head, "I'm a family friend."

While Giles and the others were explaining to the guard that Buffy didn't mean to sound so hysterical, the nurse was checking the computer for Dawn's condition, and then her wing and room number. After finding out everything she needed, the nurse took a piece of paper and wrote down the details before standing up onto her feet.

"Your sister's in intensive care," the nurse said as Buffy's eyes went wide and her face paled, as did Willow, Xander, and Giles. "the details are on the piece of paper," the nurse explained while handing the piece of paper to Buffy, "I will inform the doctor that you are on the way."

"Is she going to be… okay?" Buffy asked, her own voice sounding so far away. But all the nurse could do was say that the doctor would explain everything. Buffy muttered "thanks" silently while Willow and Xander gently placed their hands on her shoulders. The nurse then asked the security officer to escort the group to the intensive care wing.

 **A few minutes later.**

Buffy's eyes were blank as she is tend to the doctor explaining to her, Giles, Willow, and Xander the condition of the pale brunette who could be seen through a window in a private room. She was under a blanket with all sorts of machines being hooked onto her while a hanging blood bag was attached to her wrist.

"She lost a lot of blood," the doctor said while Buffy stared at Dawn through the window, "but luckily people attended to her. Some pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding while another started CPR. So we are hopeful that her brain continued to receive oxygen, and…"

"When will she wake up?" Buffy asked softly.

"Her MRI was clear, her X-Ray's…"

"When will she wake up?" Buffy hissed turning to the doctor while her body remained towards Dawn.

"Tonight is a critical moment," the doctor explained, "if nothing untoward happens tonight, then she should… and I mean should… wake up within the next twenty four hours. When she wakes up, we'll know if her brain was affected by the blood loss."

"Thank you, doctor," Giles whispered placing his hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"I'll be back to check up on Dawn in an hour, in the meantime Miss Summers," the doctor said while Buffy looked back and stared at Dawn, "I would suggest that you rest. After all, your sister will need you as she recovers."

"Did the police catch the person responsible?" Willow asked turning towards the doctor.

"I'm afraid I don't have that information," the doctor said, "but I do know that officers will be coming along soon to ask you questions about the attack. I mean if Dawn had any enemies, or…."

"I get it," Buffy whispered staring at Dawn, "thank you, doctor." The doctor then nodded his head before turning around and walking away. One he was out of ear shot, Buffy spoke softly, "Willow, find out who did this. Whoever stabbed her must have Dawn's blood on him or her.. Do a location spell. I…"

"Buffy, you need to…"

Buffy looked at Giles with anger in her eyes before saying, "I need to find out who did this and why." Buffy then turned to Willow who stared back at her, their eyes locked together, "Willow, I need a location spell, find the one who did this." Buffy then turned to Xander, "Xand, call in any Slayers we know… Slayers we trust… that are operating in Oxford. I want a Slayer guard watching Dawn's room."

"I'll make the call, Buffy," Xander said.

"I'll get a location spell ready," Willow added. Buffy nodded at them before turning to Giles, and then to Dawn while Willow and Xander rushed off.

"We have so many enemies, Giles," Buffy whispered while Giles stood next to her. Buffy started to feel an emptiness in her while imagining a life without her younger sister. For the first time in a long time, she was in a state of fear… although she didn't show it to Giles. She mentally tried to go through those who had reason to hurt Dawn, or hurt her through Dawn- and it was a long list. 'Whoever it was that stabbed Dawn, he or she better watch out.' Buffy thought to herself, 'I'm coming.'

 **Unknown Island, UK.**

The man who stabbed Dawn stood at an alter in the ruins of an ancient castle on an island off the coast of Cornwall. It was thanks to a spell that he was able to teleport from Oxford to another location where he was able to use half of the blood in the jar to open a chest he had spent nearly two hours digging up out of the ground. It was a long rectangular case that had been buried long ago, centuries ago, but the case looked as it did the day it was buried.

It hadn't aged a day.

"You have what we need to open the doorway?" a female voice asked from behind, "Collin?"

"Yes, Amy," Collin replied getting up to his feet after the case was pulled out of the ground, and laid on the hard ground next to the freshly dug up soil. He stared at the case while saying, "and it's all thanks to you."

"They killed the people we loved," Amy said as she remembered the year without magic, the horror and screams that came from the flayed young man, Warren Mears, who was held together by magic before he literally fall apart once that magic was gone. "So we make them suffer."

Collin nodded his head with his back to Amy, "thank you for seeking me out after my Melanie's death. Thank you for.."

"She was in my coven, I felt her passing when I was in Paris burying what remained of Warren," Amy said.

"The elixir I bought was working," Collin said looking at the case before he crouched down and grabbed the cover, "she was getting better by the minute, and then…"

"Buffy destroyed the seed of wonder," Amy said, "she wiped out magic from this realm and…"

"And Melanie suffered," Colin said opening the case to reveal a metal sword- the blade had runic symbols that travelled down its length. He reached down and grabbed the hilt, his fingers wrapping around the tightly wound leather, "she would have lived… I saw the magic work… I saw… I saw her getting better and then…"

"The magic in the elixir failed," Amy nodded her head as Colin stood back up.

"She withered away… she was screaming pain for two days straight," Colin said turning around and facing Amy, "the witch that performed the ritual said that the elixir became a type of poison in her body and… and then…" Colin shook his head before reaching into his tunic and then handing the sword and the jar of blood to Amy, "it doesn't matter now, do what you have to do. You've already helped me with one part of my vengeance, and now do this for me."

"What you're asking for is to bring on the the onset of darkness," Amy asked with her eyes narrowed, "are you sure? I mean I'll use my magic to protect myself and…"

"With this sword in hand," Colin said as his eyes turned yellow and fangs extended out his mouth, "and this amazing work you did grafting a demon into my soul, I will control an army. An army of the dead."

"With Dawn's blood combined with the magic in the sword," Amy said, "you can tear open a gateway that'll connect you to the other realm you saw in your dreams. You can control the dead, and bring them here… you will rule, and…"

"And Buffy's head with be on the end of a pike," Colin said. Amy nodded her head before she walked towards the alter. She placed the sword on the surface before pouring half of Dawn's blood onto the blade. Colin walked up to Amy and stood next to her watching the blood get absorbed into the blade, the ancient runes starting to glow one after another.

"I call on the old gods, the ancient gods that long walk this Earth," Amy whispered a spell as she handed the jar containing the remainder of Dawn's blood to Colin. She then turned and grabbed the hilt before pulling the sword out of its case, "the gods that granted power to Merlin to separate Excalibur to blades of death and life. I call on those gods to restore power to this blade, the blade of death, I beseech the gods to use the blood of the Key to bind magic to the blade so that it can grant everlasting power."

The sword them glowed bright red in Amy's hand before she handed it to Colin, "you wanted power? You have it. With Dawn's blood absorbed into the blade, you can slice open a portal to the other realm and bring the creatures in your vision here, and every time you kill with the sword… be it man or demon, the blood staining the blade will transfer power to you."

"Good," Colin said as he stared at the blade. Before looking at Amy, "but the power that will course through me after killing my enemies won't harm me, will it?"

"You're half demon now," Amy pointed out, "you won't be affected. But if a human kills anyone with that blade? Then they'll go mad from the extra power that'll flow into them; power which would corrupt them. So mad that they would eventually turn into a mindless demon that would burn at the touch of the sword."

"Ah yes," Colin whispered staring back at the blade in his hand, "the great Excalibur could never be wielded by a pure demon." He then looked up at Amy once again and smiled, "but a half demon… or rather a human that was made into a half demon. Now that is a different thing all together."

"That isn't the full sword," Amy said shaking her head, "the half of it that gives life has been hidden away. Every spell I tried was unsuccessful. But you don't need that blade, you just…"

"I wonder," Colin whispered staring at the blade. He had been ignoring Amy until now when he turned his head and stared at her once again. His eyes wandered her body before settling on her chest, where her heart would be, before looking back into her eyes, "what would it feel like to have the power… the life essence of a human be transferred into me through the blade."

"I assume it's like when you drink blood," Amy said staring into Colin;s eyes, a chill going up her spine. Colin had the sword pointed down while he stared at her and tilted his head. Amy wondered what was going through his mind, she wondered if she could really survive what was coming should he open the portal. She wondered if, in her own anger for vengeance against Willow and the others for the death of Warren, she made the right choice in helping Colin. She met the man in Paris after the witch who had tried to help cure his own wife from a genetic disease referred her to him.

Amy told Colin what happened; about what Buffy had done in destroying the seed of wonder which wiped out magic from Earth. She explained everything, and then they worked together on ways to bring Buffy and her Scoobies to heel. The both of them wanted vengeance.. It was the very thing that connected them. Then a year later, after having tracked down Buffy, Willow and the others using non-magical means… magic returned. Upon the return of magic to Earth, Colin's plans changed. He started having dreams of the dead walking in a frozen wasteland, of beings in armour with pale skin and blue eyes. He told Amy, now his lover, of his dreams but the blonde witch couldn't make heads or tails about the creatures he described.

The dreams went on for six more months, and he saw a great battle with dragons in the sky, a vast army of the living against the dead. He dreamt of the living being wiped out, and the dead succeeding… now with three dragons on their side. He watched the destruction of a vast castle surrounded by snow before the army of the dead moved on. He saw dead bring down untold destruction as the world turned to darkness.

And Colin wanted that power. He wanted to control the dead. He wanted to use the dead to kill the living on Earth. He wanted to begin with Buffy. In his mind, she was the one responsible for killing his wife, and then he wanted the world brought down on its knees since his wife was no longer in it.

But he needed to become powerful first, Colin had Amy search for a Pell that would combine his human soul with that of a vampire. It had taken moths for the both of them to search for a spell… in the end, they found it in London. Amy then performed the ritual which bonded Colin's soul to that of a demon… a Vampire. Now he was able to not only kill by drinking the blood of human, but he could walk under the sunlight, he could control his urges- he basically had all the abilities of a vampire, with very few of the weaknesses.

But even with that power, there was a chance- A small chance, that Buffy could defeat him. And so, Colin and Amy searched for a way to the other realm… the one in his dreams.

And Amy was the one who found it.

With the sword in one hand pointing towards the ground. Colin walked up to Amy, grabbed the back of her head, and then pulled her in. The both of them kissed passionately for several seconds before pulling back. Amy whimpered before opening her eyes to Colin's smile and saying, "when you want to return with your army, all you have to do is swing the sword, and a portal will open back here."

It was just then that there was a gust of wind from behind them. Amy and Colin turned around to find a blue tear in the air that rippled and fluctuated. Amy frowned at the tear before turning to Colin and saying, "it's Willow, I can feel her magic."

"Come with me, honey," Colin whispered before he raised the sword in his hand towards the tear. Colin glanced sideways at the smile on Amy's face as she foolishly dropped her defenses at the thought that Colin would turn around and slice the air behind them. That he would open a portal to the other realm, taking her with him… she would be his partner in bringing the darkness to Earth. And the both of them would be together for all time, just as it should have been with her and Warren.

However, just as Willow and Buffy, who was in a black tactical suit with wooden stakes attacked to her thighs, a sword on her back, and a dagger on her left hip, rushed through the portal. It was then that Colin, to the surprise of Buffy, Willow, and Amy herself, stabbed the blonde haired witch in the chest. Amy turned her head and stared in horror at Colin who said, "I'm bring my wife back when the darkness comes. I don't need you- it'll be just me and her."

"Amy!" Willow yelled before she gathered a magical blast in the palm of her hand just as Buffy took off running at Colin while pulling the sword from the scabbard on her back. Willow fired the blue and red blast which was supposed to simply immobilize Colin who pulled out the sword and then held it, it's blade held across his body, against the blast. The blast was simply absorbed into the blade, much to Willow's surprise while Amy crumbled to the ground bleeding out into the grass.

As her vision started to fade, Amy had tears running down her cheeks at the betrayal against her. She stared at Colin who was smirking at Buffy running at him. Her attention, or at least what remained of the strength she could focus, was concentrated on the jar of Dawn's blood in her hand. She used her magic and teleported the jar to Willow's side; something the redhead noticed as she looked down, and then back at Amy.

In the meantime, Buffy leapt at the man, swinging her sword with all her strength. However, she was surprised when he ducked, moved to the left while she was still in mid-air before she could react. He then stood up just as she landed on the ground. In one fluid motion, Colin grabbed the back of Buffy's collar, and then pulled her back and threw her towards Willow.

"Oooofff," Willow grunted as Buffy rammed into her, the both of them falling on the ground while Colin kicked Amy until she lay on her back. He then stabbed the sword through her chest. He smiled as the sword then absorbed Amy's life force which traveled through the blade and into his body. Collin could feel the power grow inside him while he stared, and then snickered, at Amy's body starting to turn into a dried out husk. Buffy and Willow looked on stunned as they got back onto their feet. Once Amy's body was dried up, Colin pulled the sword out of Amy's chest, and then stepped back.

"Slayer," he said with a sneer.

"Who are you? Buffy demanded as she took on a defensive position while Willow prepared a more powerful blast, "Willow's location spell followed Dawn's blood here. Why did you stab my sister, why did you try to kill her?"

"Enjoy the time you have left," Colin whispered with a maniacal grin before turning and slicing the air behind him. Then jumped through the resulting tear in space while Buffy and Willow stared in disbelief. It was only a second later that the two of them saw the tear start to shrink. Willow used all her considerable power to hold the tear open, at least for Buffy to get to wherever it was that Colin went to, and then bring him back to face justice. But even Willow, who was christened the most powerful witch in the Earth realm, was unable to hold back the sealing of the tear.

"Find out what he did," Buffy growled before she ran towards the tear, "and then find a way to bring me back." Buffy rushed, enraged, her mind only on the man who nearly killed her sister, headlong into the tear just before it closed.

Buffy!" Willow cried out as the tear slammed shut. She panted hard with eyes wide open before looking back at the jar artly full of Dawn's blood. Willow quickly picked it up, an dthen opened a portal back to the hospital where Giles, Faith, and two other Oxford based Slayers- Rennes and Carolanne were guarding Dawn.

 **Unknown regions between realities.**

Once Colin tore the fabric between realities using the powers of the Key combined with the sword, the backlash… the massive amount of energy for such a deed… was felt by the beings known as the Powers that Be. At least that's how they were known in the Earth realm. In the other realms, they were known by other names.

In the realm that Colin's tear led to, some of the Powers were known as the Old Gods of the Forest, some were known as the New Gods of the Seven, then there was the many-faced god, there was the lord of light… the Powers were known by many more. And they all stared at Earth- their very cosmic being quaking at the unnatural occurrence that had just taken place.

And it was then that they saw the flash of light. A violent flash of white light that caused a shockwave of epic proportions as it travelled outwards through every single dimensional wall. The Powers were aware of the Others, the Whitewalkers, making their way through another realm. The people in that realm would fight… but they would lose. And that was only because were in such disunity that they were destined to lose.

But now the Powers sensed their one of their champions from the Earth realm travelling through the tear after the one that had caused the tear in the first place. They sensed the dead friends and enemies of the other realm waking up- the Powers sensed a great change that could very well give humanity a chance to survive.

All they could do was watch and wait.

 **The Trident, Westeros, seventeen years ago.**

Rhaegar felt his ribs shatter.

He felt his own bones enter and pierce his heart, lungs, and other internal organs.

The pain was only a second in real life, but to him, as Robert Baratheon pulled back his war hammer with a look of rage on his face, the pain lasted for hours. Rhaegar fell himself thrown back as the rubies which adorned his chest plate fell off and into the waters of the Trident thanks to the war hammer's impact. He then felt himself impacting the water which immediately turned red with blood, his eyes glaring at Robert who bore his teeth at him before turning around and limping away. Rhaegar knew that Robert was badly injured as well, and the last thing going through his mind was that his hope that the Usurper would die as well.

Just as darkness came over him, Rhaegar's thoughts turned to the people he loved.

'Lyanna, Elia, Aegon, Rhaenys… forgive me.' Rhaegar then took his last breath. And when darkness took over, he felt himself sleeping while floating in nothingness. At least that's how it was until a flash of bright white light. The light forced his eyes open before a blast of energy washed through his body and then there was a sensation of falling. Darkness was all around him before he started to feel his physical body, and then he looked downwards to see a spot of light coming up towards him.

And he screamed.

 **Dorne, Westeros, Seventeen years ago.**

"Promise me, Ned," Lyanna took a forced breath while looking at her older brother carrying the baby she had just given birth to, "you… you know…" Lyanna had tears in her eyes while feeling her body start to go numb. She could smell the winter roses that were being kept in a vase of water near the side of the bed; a bed that was covered in blood. Lyanna knew she didn't have long for the world and that she felt herself slipping away.

"Promise me, Ned," she whispered at Ned, "promise me."

She saw her brother, the new Lord of Winterfell, turn his head to look back at her, his younger sister with tears in his eyes. Lyanna received news months ago that Rhaegar was killed by Robert, and she knew of the latter's hatred for Targaryens. Lyanna knew that Robert would do anything to kill the child in Ned's arms, "promise me, Ned."

'Protect him,' she thought, "please. Protect him."

"With my life," he whispered, his voice cracking under the strain of watching his young sister dying before him, "he will grow up at Winterfell with a brother. With other brothers and sisters to come. He… he will be my bastard, Lya… he…"

"Thank… you," she breathed while closing her eyes. Ned his eyes wide open with tears beginning to fall down his cheeks, then handed the baby over to the midwife and then reached down to hold Lyanna's hand.

"I… I…" she whispered at Ned with every breath burning her lungs, "love… yu…" And that was the last words that Lord Eddard Stark would ever hear from his beloved sister. It would be Howland Reed who rushed up the stairs of the tower to break into the room. He would look on in horror at the sight in front of him before rushing to Ned and gently prying his hand off Lyanna's. Reed would keep the secret of what he had seen in that tower, including the truth of the baby, for years and years. And Ned would raise the baby as his bastard, Jon Snow.

As for Lyanna, the darkness took her over. It was as if she had a body still, but was floating in the ether, asleep. Suddenly, there was a blast of energy that went through her, followed by a sensation of falling. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright white light that seemed to come towards her.

And she screamed.

 **Kings Landing, seventeen years ago.**

Rhaenys remembered screaming under the bed, she was told by her mother to go to the secret door that lay beneath the bed. Elia told her daughter that she had to go through the tunnels, where the little birds, would be waiting to lead her away to a ship in the water. Rhaenys was nearly at the grate, she could see the eyes of the 'little bird', a child a little older than Rhaenys, opening the grate so that she could slip in.

Suddenly, she heard Elia scream out in anguish. Fear gripped Rhaenys' heart, and then she heard a disgusting 'spotch' sound. Rhaenys turned around, and crawled away from the little bird's hand that had been reaching for her. From under the bed, Rhaenys witnessing the man known as the Mountain slam the blood covered body of her baby brother against the wall.

And she screamed in horror. Realizing what she did as the Mountain turned around towards the bed, Rhaenys turned and crawled as fast as she could to the open grate and the child who was reaching out for her. She was nearly there… Rhaenys nearly grabbed his arm when the mountain grabbed her ankle and then pulled her out from under the bed. She stared at the horrified look on the child's face before she was punched repeatedly in the face, and then slammed onto the bed. Her face stinging in pain as she cried out, Rhaenys saw her mother, her frail mother, rush at the Mountain in anger.

"Stay away from her!" she yelled. But the Mountain swatted her away. Rhaenys screamed in fear when the Mountain turned towards her and then raised his great sword over his head. Rhaenys and Elia screamed just as the sword was pushed into the little girl's body. Rhaenys opened her eyes wide and her mouth formed an 'O' as she gasped for breath. Rhaenys felt the first two stabs from the Mountain's sword before her body became numb and she had blood going up her throat and down the sides of her mouth. Rhaenys heard the screams from her mother continue through the sixth stab before darkness took her.

And now, Rhaenys felt as if she was in a deep sleep. She felt herself floating when suddenly her eyes opened to a bright flash of light. She saw a wave of energy wash through her before falling towards a white light. And she screamed in fear.

 **The Twins, three years ago.**

"The Lannisters send their regards," was the last thing Robb Stark heard before Roose Bolton stabbed him through the heart. It was the ultimate betrayal- the Freys attacked the Starks and their allies under guest rights. Robb was stunned when the arrows pierced him, he was stunned when Talisa was stabbed in her belly, he was stunned when he watched all his fellow northerners slaughtered. The last thing he remembered was calling out to his mother before Bolton stabbed him.

As he fell to the floor, Robb heard his mother scream while slicing the throat of Walder Frey's young wife with a dagger. And just before the darkness took him, Robb saw his mother murdered.

'Sansa, Arya…. Jon.' Those were the last thoughts going through Robb's mind before he slipped away. He felt himself floating in nothingness with his mother, Catelyn, next to him. Robb could feel his body, but it felt as if he was asleep… he felt a sense of self, but nothing else at the same time. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light that forced him to open his eyes. As a wave washed over him, Robb cause sight of his mother before the both of them screamed out loud while feeling themselves falling towards a bright white light.

 **The Red Keep, three years ago.**

Before slipping onto darkness, before feeling himself floating in nothingness with his eyes closed, Tywin Lannister felt the arrows that pierced his skin. The third arrow piercing his heart. His own son, Tyrion, killed him. It was something that was an insult- the Lion of Casterly Rock being killed by the Imp. All he wished for as he lay silent with his eyes closed in nothingness was for vengeance- he dreamt about killing his youngest son the moment he slithered out of Joanna Lannister. He wanted to forget family for just a second so that he could throw Tyrion down into the rocks at the bottom of the cliff that held the castle.

But now he had no chance for vengeance.

At least that's what he thought before the bright white light that flashed. Tywin had his eyes forced open just as a wave of energy washed through him. It was then that he heard more screams in the darkness before what he knew to be the screams of Joffrey, the Mountain, and Oberyn Martel yelled out in the darkness.

But Tywin stared transfixed at the light that was coming towards him, the light he felt himself falling towards. And he smiled.

'Vengeance is coming.'

 **Braavos, a year ago.**

She didn't see the blade. She didn't see the blade before it stabbed her. She was in disbelief as she stared into the cold eyes of the girl she tormented, the girl she hated, the gilr she despised.

'Arya Stark' she thought with hate in her heart as her sword fell clattering to the ground. She cut her throat. Arya stabbed her needle through her heart, and she hated the Stark for it. She never thought that Arya should be one of them… a Faceless Man. She wanted Arya to fail. She wanted Arya to die- which was why she was ecstatic when ordered to kill Arya to appease Death.

But instead of Arya dying, she was the one who died. A Girl was the one who died.

She wanted to scream out loud while she slept floating in nothingness. Suddenly, her eyes were forced open by a bright white light. She called herself the Waif, and she smiled hysterically as she fell towards the white light beneath her after an energy wave swept through her body.

"Stark," the Waif growled as she fell, "I'm coming for you."

 **Jon's Solar, Winterfell, now.**

"I should have been…" Sansa looked away from Jon and shook her head before looking back at him in disbelief. She was angry at him- there was no two ways about it. She didn't say anything when Jon rode in through the gates of Winterfell with the Dragon Queen, Daenerys Targaryen, and her retinue of advisors, select few of her Unsullied, and a few of her Dothraki while the others prepared tents in the camp being set alongside the Northerners. Sansa nodded her head at one particular man in the Queen's retinue, her former husband Tyrion Lannister. Turning back to Dany approaching her with Jon be her side, Sansa put a smile on her face. After all, she was a lady and so acted the part she had to play.

While Arya welcomes Jon with a hug, Sansa welcomed Daenerys with a curtsy. The redhead then welcomed Tyrion and the others before having them escorted to their rooms. But the glance she gave Jon was enough for the latter to know that Sansa was not happy. And now, Jon had to face his sister's anger as she crumpled the message he had sent her by raven from Dragonstone after having secured Cercie's pledge to help them fight the long Night.

"I should have been consulted, Jon," Sansa whispered shaking her head. She didn't want the others in the castle to hear the now former King in the North and the Lady of Winterfell having an argument, and she did her best to keep her voice down, "do you sincerely look down on me that much that you would make a decision such as this on…"

"I am the king, Sansa," Jon whispered while he glared at Sansa who stood her ground and didn't flinch, "I…."

"You were the king," Sansa clarified, her face red, holding up the message she received weeks ago revealing that he bent the knee to Dany, "you were the King." Sansa nearly screamed out- instead she hissed the sentence in anger. "The Northerners made you king because we didn't want to have a Southern ruler. You know this, Jon," Sansa whispered shaking her head as Jon closed his eyes and looked away.

"Do the other Northern houses know?" Jon whispered, unable to stare his sister in the eyes.

Sansa sighed taking a step back away from Jon, and looking out the window to the cloudy sky, "no. I have not told them."

"Sansa," Jon whispered turning his head before he stepped forward, and then reached out before gently held her hand. "You're right, I should have consulted with you before I made this decision. But I know in my heart that this is the right thing to do. I know."

"She…"

"The Queen saved our lives when we travelled beyond the wall, she sacrificed her dragon to save us, Sansa." Jon placed a hand gently on the side of Sansa's head and felt the redhead lean into the hand, "I believe in my heart that she is the right ruler for Westeros. She is the one this country needs right now."

"Do you trust her?" Sansa asked.

"With my life," Jon replied taking his hand away and reached for Sansa's hand, "just as I trust you with my life."

"I…." Sansa and Jon stopped talking and stared at each other, their eyebrows narrowed in confusion when they felt a gust of wind coming in from outside followed by a sniffle and the sound of someone crying. Sansa and Jon then turned their heads towards the large table in the solar which was piled high with parchments before making their way around the table. And what they saw shocked them down to the bone.

"Please.. I.. I beg you do not harm me. Please," Jon and Sansa stared at the girl in a bloodied silk dress hiding underneath the table staring up at them, "please, I… I… please, do not harm me."

It was just then that there was a knock on the door, and before Jon could ask whoever it was to come in, the wooden door swung open hard and Ser Davos stepped in with a worried look on his face.

"Your Grace, my Lady," he panted with his eyes widened staring at Jon, and then at Sansa, and back to Jon once again, "it… it's the queen, she's been attacked."

 **White Harbor, Westeros, now.**

Adrienne opened her eyes with a gasp before she turned to her side. She panted as she rose up on her feathered bed, her feet placed flat on the stone floor. Her fingers grasped the blankets either side of her as a tingling sensation travelled throughout her body. Adrienne thought the sensation was familiar, but at the same time, she didn't recognize it.

'It feels like a long-lost friend but… but it feels as if the name is in the back of my mind,' she thought while getting up to her feet, 'I try to remember the name, but the more I try, the further away it gets.'

She then rubbed her forehead waiting for the tingling sensation to subside.

"Mother?" a soft female voice said while knocking on the wooden door in the home that faced New Castle, the seat of House Lord Wyman Manderly. Adrienne's husband was one of the Lord's personal guard sent to aid Robb Stark during the War of the Five Kings. However, he died at what became infamously known as the Red Wedding.

And his death left Adrienne with a broken heart and two children to raise on her own- a boy who was now fifteen and a girl who was now eleven.

"Come in," Adrienne said after making sure that she was modest as she wrapped her blanket around herself.

The door was pushed open, and just as the gap between the door and the doorframe was wide enough, a girl in a blue and white dress with black curly hair and green eyes rushed inside. She ran to Adrienne and hugged her tight.

"Good morning, Kara, my sweetling," Adrienne said before looking up at her son who was nearly a splitting image of her husband, "good morning, Dorian." As she hugged her daughter, the strange sensation was still spreading through her body. Taking a deep breath, she thought forward to her day with the children- they were to travel in a convoy with various types of food; fish, poultry, pork, vegetables- to Winterfell. Adrienne could tell something was happening especially with the call by the Manderley's for the small folk to take shelter at the New Castle.

Those who were travelling to Winterfell would be taking shelter there, and that included Adrienne and the children.

"After we break our fast, we will gather up some of our belongings," Adrienne told Kara as she pulled back and looked into her eyes, "in the meantime, you will help your brother pack the fish we caught this morning in salt."

"Yes, mother," Kara grinned while Dorian ruffled her hair.

"Now go, the both of you," Adrienne said nodding at the door, "I will meet you at the table to break our fast."

"Yes, mother," Dorian said nodding his head before he and his sister walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. Adrienne then sighed before looking down at her arms. She saw the hairs stand up while the tingling sensation continued through her body, and then it suddenly stopped.

And it left Adrienne even more confused about what was happening, 'why was my body tingling? And why do I feel that there was something familiar I should remember?'

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

**Winterfell, a few minutes earlier.**

It had been only less than ten minutes before Dany was escorted to her room in Winterfell by Davos and Arya, accompanied by Jorah, two Unsullied guards and two Dothraki, along with Missendei and Tyrion. Dany did notice that Sansa had pulled Jon away so that they could speak in private, 'I have a feeling I know what it is about' Dany thought upon reaching the door. The entire walk was uncomfortably silent; Dany wanted to say something to Arya, but no words came out of her mouth- just the sounds of their shoes hitting the hard and cold floor of the castle. The truth was that she felt unease at the girl walking next to Ser Davos. Dany glanced at Tyrion, who looked back at her with a look that said, 'everything will be alright'.

It was Tyrion, her Hand, that told her back at Dragonstone before Jon arrived, that the North was a different creature altogether- they looked to their own and that a Southern ruler, or in Dany's case a foreign ruler, would find it immensely difficult to hold that entire region. He further explained that demanding Jon, as the King in the North, bend the knee to her would cause some tension given the recent history between the two houses.

'And it went as well as it did in our first encounter,' Dany thought to herself looking away from Tyrion, 'but I am the Queen on the Seven Kingdoms. And he is the King in the North, one of the very kingdoms that I intend to rule. Bending the knee? There was no choice for me but to insist he bend the knee. I want to rule a united kingdom. Not one that is fractured.'

"This is your room," Arya said, her voice edged with a hint of anger as she turned and placed a hand on the door. She and Dany stared at each other for a few seconds, one not turning away from the other while Arya continued, "it may be cold in the North, your Grace, but the pipes running through the walls provides us with enough warmth. And this room is the warmest there is."

"Thank you, Lady Stark," Dany said nodding her head before breaking eye contact with her- there was a part of her that was relieved since it felt as if Arya was staring right through into her very soul. Dany turned her head and nodded at Grey Worm, the leader of her Unsullied forces. Grey Worm opened the door while the Dothraki took their places on either side of the stone door frame. Arya stepped to one side and stood with Ser Davos as Dany stopped at the threshold of the room before turning to face Arya. She had seen Arya hug Jon tight the moment he got off his horse, she had seen the look of pure love in her eyes for her brother before she turned to her when Jon introduced them to each other. It was then that Dany saw the anger in Arya's eyes.

It was something that Jon had already warned Dany about; it was something that even Tyrion and Jorah had warned her about- that there would be a lot of anger at a southern ruler forcing the North to bow down once again.

"Jon made a choice, Lady Stark," Dany said facing the younger girl, "he bent the knee willingly, and..."

"A choice that.. well… you made for him, your Grace," Arya interrupted with a passive look on her face with Dany feeling her eyes boring right through her, "at least that's what I heard." And Arya was telling the truth. After Littlefinger's death, Sansa showed Arya the message Jon sent by raven. Arya had to read the message four times before looking back at Sansa with eyes wide open in surprise and asked how Jon could have simply bent the knee. It would be later that very night that the two of them went to Bran who told them everything that happened between Dany and Jon.

"You heard?" asked Tyrion confused about what Arya could have been talking about, "what have you heard?"

"Many things," Arya said staring at Dany before she stepped back without saying anything else, "you need your rest, your Grace. The other Northern Lords will be arriving at the Great Hall in an hour."

"I…." Dany stopped before she said anything else. She knew that convincing the North wasn't going to be easy no matter what Jon told her. She knew the pain her father, the Mad King, had brought to Westeros… especially to the North with what happened to Brandon and Rickard Stark; followed by her brother kidnapping and raping Lyanna Stark. Dany knew that there was a lot of work to do, and that it all needed to begin with the war against the Night King. Dany simply shook her head before saying, "I will rest for an hour, Lady Stark."

Ordinarily, Arya would have told Dany not to call her 'Lady Stark' or 'my Lady', but for now she didn't want to say anything. She was angry, just as Sansa was, at Jon when he wrote that he bent the knee. However, seeing him again riding through the front gate overwhelmed her. She pushed those feelings to one side, rushed over to him just as his feet landed on the ground, and then hugged him tight.

'Sansa will tell him how angry we are,' Arya thought to herself as she stared at the Dragon Queen standing in front of her. She then sighed before turning to Jorah and saying, "I'm sure Lady Mormont will be glad to see you."

Jorah knew that Arya meant what she said in a mocking way, but his heart was racing at the thought of meeting his cousin, 'would she want me to leave? Would she hate me? Would she kill me?' he thought to himself. Straightening himself, Jorah told Arya that meeting his cousin would be interesting, "but at another time."

Arya nodded her head before she took her leave, along with Davos. Dany sighed, knowing that she had a lot of work to do to repair relations with the North, before nodding her head at Arya and Davos. She watched them turn around before she herself turned to Jorah, Tyrion, Missendei, and Greyworm while the Dothraki guards stood on either side of the door to her room. Dany had her hand on the stone door frame while she gave her orders to Greyworm, and was about to turned to Jorah to help acclimate the Dothraki and the Unsullied making camp outside the walls of Winterfell to the snow and cold.

However, before she could finish her orders, Dany felt a cool breeze in her room rush out from behind her. It brought a chill up her spine as she turned her head to her left, towards the inside wall of the room. From the corner of her eyes, Dany noticed Arya suddenly stop walking before turning around to stare at her with eyes wide open.

"Something's wrong," Arya whispered.

And then things happened fast… too fast to comprehend. Dany looked to the movement coming from her left side, within the room near the large bed. She heard steel being pulled out of their scabbards, she heard Jorah yell "my queen!", she heard Greyworm pushing Missendei away while Tyrion yelled, "No!" All the while, Dany stared into lilac eyes and froze, everything seemed to suddenly shift into slow-motion for her. Dany felt the icy grip on her hand pulling her away from the grip of Greyworm, she saw the silver hair, the familiar madness in the eyes, the familiar sneer on the lips. Dany was roughly turned around as an arm squeezed into her neck while she was pulled back into the room as the figure that appeared out of nowhere stood behind her. He then placed his left hand held down on her abdomen and squeezed.

"Ah!" she yelped before gasping for air as the arm tightened into her throat.

"Who is that?" asked Tyrion, his heart racing at the sight before him, before he was pushed aside by Greyworm and the two Dothraki guards. He rushed to the side of the room and tried to make out the crazed man holding his Queen hostage.

"Davos," growled Arya before running into the room past Missendei, who was pulled away by Greyworm to the far wall next to Tyrion, "call Jon… call Jon now!" Davos nodded his head and ran to find the former King in the North while Arya, with her Needle, out in her hand stood next to Jorah on the left side of the scraggly looking man who seemed to have burn marks all over his face as well as patches of silver hair singed off, exposing the burned scalp underneath.

"Where am I?" he growled in Dany's ear as her heart raced. The one thought going through her head was that the man holding her was dead. And she knew he was dead because she had seen it in front of her- she saw Khal Drogo pour molten gold over his head. Dany remembered the screams of pain from him… from her brother… from Viserys Targaryen. "I remember you standing there with a smug look. I remember you standing there while I died. The gods must be kind to bring me back. They must be kind to have revenge on you, sister."

"Sister?" Arya asked glancing at Jorah who gulped while holding his sword out, and aimed at Viserys.

"You died," Jorah whispered. It was a sentence that had Greyworm, Arya, Missendei, and Tyrion glance at JOrah in confusion, "I… I was there. I… I saw you die, Viserys."

"Viserys?" asked Tyrion as the Dragon Queen's terrified eyes shifted towards him, "Viserys Targaryen?"

"Let her go," Greyworm commanded as he aimed a spear towards Viserys' shoulder while the two Dothraki guards flanked them; however, none of them dare make a move with their queen so close to danger. Viserys stepped back further into the room threatening to break Dany's neck.

"You took my army, didn't you, Dany?" Viserys hissed into her ear, "where are we now, dear sister?"

"Win… winter… fell.."

"You came to the usurper's dogs?" hissed Viserys into Dany's ears before he sneered, "you came to…."

Before Viserys could finish what it was that he wanted to say. They all felt a cold breeze, and then heard a gasp. Upon hearing the gasp, the ones facing the bed; one of the Dothraki, Greyworm, Missendei, and Tyrion all stared with eyes wide open in surprise at the corner of the room where a figure appeared out of thin air. It was the same with Viserys who turned his head to see who had made the gasp; and it was both Jorah and Arya, facing away from the one who made the gasp sound who used the distraction to dash forward after dropping their swords which clattered on the floor. Jorah pulled Dany away from the still stunned Viserys, and then pushed her towards Missendei. Jorah and Arya then rushed Viserys and held him down. Missendei pulled Dany back just as Greyworm, who returned to his senses from witnessing something awesome, then turned back towards Viserys screaming at Arya and Jorah demanding that he be released from their grasps.

"I am the rightful king! I am the rightful king!" Viserys yelled just as the Dothraki guard and Greyworm were about to stab him while Jorah and Arya held the struggling 'king' back.

"Stop!" Dany yelled staring at her brother with wide eyes, "don't… don't kill him!" The spears and knives stopped at Viserys' throat while the wide-eyed Tyrion walked forward, his legs trembling as he reached for and grasped the wooden side of the bed with his trembling hands. Instead of staring at the raving 'king' to his left, Tyrion's eyes were on the young woman. Tyrion stared at the young woman in the corner who herself was staring at the sight of the still struggling Viserys. Tyrion could barely hear Dany ordering Jorah and Arya to take Viserys to the dungeons. And then after that, Tyrion could barely hear Dany call for him.. instead the dwarf was staring up at the young woman as he took one step after another towards her.

"I…. I…." the young woman with flowing blonde hair, green eyes, and a blood stained dress, stared at the people before her. She then looked down and her eyes were affixed to the dwarf who now stood at the corner of the bed, "I was on.. on a boat."

"How?" Tyrion stepped back trembling. He heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw the Dothraki heading towards him and the girl who looked up, stepped back, and let out a gasp. "Stop! Stop!"

"Halt," Dany issued an order to the Dothraki, who immediately stopped before Tyrion, his face as white as a freshly cleaned sheet, turned back to the young woman while Dany though, 'did she just say she was on a boat? Who is she?' "Lord Tyrion? Who is…"

"Unc.. Uncle Tyrion?" the young woman said as Tyrion grabbed the bed to balance himself as his heart raced while walking towards her. He ignored Dany's question as a name slipped out of his lips, "M… Myrcella? How? I…. I heard you…"

"I felt myself… myself die," Myrcella said before Dany and the others stared at each other in confusion, "I… I was in father's arms and… I.. saw…." Tears gathered in her eyes as she collapsed on both knees. Tyrion rushed towards his niece, 'my dead niece. How can... how can she be here… how?' The last thing that came to Tyrion's mind was that the young woman in front of him was a Wight or a Whitewalker. That thought was quickly pushed aside upon not having seen the typical blue glowing eyes that signified those monsters. Tyrion rushed forward and hugged the young woman who started to sob, occasionally muttering that she remembered dying. Tyrion felt Myrcella's warmth permeating into him as tears formed in his eyes as well- somehow, he had gotten his niece back from the dead.

"Lord Tyrion?" Dany asked walking towards him.

Tyrion released Myrcella while tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked into his niece's eyes and placed both hands on her cheeks, a smile on his face as he felt the young woman's warmth. Tyrion then pulled back, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and then turned to face his queen. Dany listened, standing with Missendei next to her and the Dothraki guards on either side, as Tyrion said, "your Grace. I… I am proud to introduce you to… to…" Tyrion was still in disbelief as he turned back and stared at Myrcella. He was afraid that she was a dream… that he was lying somewhere drunk off his ass.

Tyrion hugged Myrcella once again. And this time he laughed. He laughed out loud before whispering, "whatever gods there are- old or new- thank you." Tyrion pulled back and looked back into Myrcella's eyes again. He wiped her tears with his short fingers while saying, "you're real. You're real."

"I.. I thought this was… was the life after," Myrcella said, "when I.. I saw you, Uncle. I… I thought you died as well and… am… am I in the afterlife?"

"This is real, my niece," Tyrion whispered.

"Niece?" Dany said, her eyebrows furrowed, 'didn't he say that Ellaria Sand killed his niece?' Dany glanced at an equally surprised Messendei while the surprised Greyworm listened, "Lord Tyrion, I demand an answer."

"Myrcella Bara…"

"Hill," Myrcella whispered as Tyrion's eyes went wide wondering if she knew the truth about her parentage, "I.. I know… I know everything, Uncle. I… I know about father. I.. I know the truth about father and mother. I… Knew when… when I died."

"Your Grace," Tyrion's voice shook while wondering how Myrcella knew she was the daughter of his older siblings. But he shoved that aside while turning around and facing Dany, "I present to you my niece, Myrcella Lannister." Tyrion gulped as he stared at Dany while Myrcella reached out and held his hand, "I… I don't know how, your Grace. But.. but this is my niece."

Dany stood confused about what was happening with first her brother, and now the sudden appearance of Tyrion's dead niece.

In fact, strange things weren't just happening in Winterfell. All throughout the realm, people once dead were returned alive for no apparent reason. It was the same in the Free Cities, Qarth, and various other places. Those attuned to magic sensed that a major event reverberated throughout the magical planes- an event that sparked a great backlash in the form of the dead, both good and evil, returned to life.

Back in Kings Landing, Cersei was in her room drinking wine and looking out at the sunset when she heard a bump behind her. Narrowing her eyes, the woman stood up and called out for Ser Gregor, her own sworn shield, while turning around. She suddenly gasped and dropped the golden cup in her hand upon staring at the sight of her oldest boy.

Her dead Joffrey. But all Cersei could do was scream out loud while stepping back, her hands outstretched calling loudly for Ser Gregor. The armoured man, if he could be called a man anymore, strode into the room as Joffrey turned around with a quizzical look on his face. His heart raced once he laid upon the helmed knight- the blue tinge on the face of the monstrosity clearly seen through the gaps in its helm.

"Mother!" a terrified Joffrey took several steps back, the back of his legs hitting the side of Cersei's bed, before he fell backwards onto the feathered mattress and silk sheets, "mother! What.. what… what is he?" The monstrosity reached out for Joffrey, and he screamed, "mother!"

"Stop!" yelled Cersei as she stared at the blonde haired boy who looked so much like Joffrey, even up to the clothes he was wearing. It was then that Cersei smelled the odour of blood and vomit coming from her son, 'no. I… I recognize the clothes. It.. it's the same he wore his wedding day. The same… no. I saw the Wight Ned Stark's Bastard brought when he and his whore treated with me. I saw the dead, and my son is dead… my son is…'

"Mother!" Joffrey called out as he scurried back on the bed while Ser Gregor stood still staring at him, waiting for his orders, "I…."

"You.. you're not Joffrey," Cersei whispered wide eyed and fearful about the being in her room, "you are not my son."

"Mother!" Joffrey screamed as he scrambled towards her on the bed.

"Ser Gregor!" yelled Cersei in fear when Joffrey reached the end of the bed, and then scrambled around to his feet hitting the floor. All Cersei saw now was the Wight at the Drogon Pit running to her. She was the Queen then.. she couldn't show fear in front of everyone. But now? Now she was absolutely terrified as the young boy who was supposed to be dead was coming towards her. Cersei called out for Gregor again- and he complied by rushing around the bed, taking out his sword, and then swinging it down all in one swift motion.

 **The Godseye, at that same time.**

Lyanna felt dam soil beneath her as she groaned. The last thing she remembered was a flash of light, followed by a tunnel. 'And then before that… before that I remember Ned. I.. I was in the tower. There was Ned… I remember he burst in and… and…'

"Promise me," Lyanna whispered as she rolled onto her back and stared at the cloudy sky. She saw snow flakes falling down onto her; she focused on one of them as it gently landed on her bare arm and then melted from the warmth on her skin. She closed her eyes and recalled Ned holding her child. She remembered begging him to protect her child, "Promise me, Ned." Lyanna opened her eyes when she remembered Ned saying yes, that he would take her son as his bastard and raise him at Winterfell.

"Ned," Lyanna whispered staring up at the clouds as a cool breeze brushed past her. She shivered before the stench of blood entered her nostrils. She looked down at her and started to pant when he saw the entire bottom section of the cream coloured nightgown she was wearing and parts of her legs covered in blood- dried blood. Lyanna gagged slightly from the stench of dried blood as she slowly got up to her feet.

She looked around at her surroundings of tall grass and weeds before setting her eyes on the island is the distance lying in the middle of a lake, 'the isle of Faces,' she thought looking away, 'Rhaegar.' Seeing the place where she married the Prince forced Lyanna to relive the moment when Ser Arthur Dayne called on her n the tower. Lyanna remembered the look of devastation on his face- it was the same when he and Rhaegar told her about the Mad King having killed Brandon and her father. Lyanna's thought immediately went to Ned- she was about to ask if Ned was the one who died when the Kingsguard knight said, in a broken voice, that it was Rhaegar who died. That Richard Baratheon killed her husband.

Tears started to flow down Lyanna's cheeks when she recalled sobbing as she collapsed onto her knees. She lost her older brother, and her father. And now she was a widow with the child of the Prince. As Lyanna stared at the Isle of Faces, her hands instinctively settled on her abdomen, "my son. Aegon, I'm coming. I.. I am certain that Ned has taken good care of you, and…." Then another memory burst into Lyanna's mind, that of the gravest news she had yet to hear. It was Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, along with Ser Arthur Dayne who told the stunned Lyanna that they received news.

"That monster killed Ellia, Aegon, and Rhaenys," Lyanna whispered shaking her head before she stared at the Isle of Faces, "I.. I remember. I wanted my child to have a Northern name. I.. I wanted Jon. But after the murders, I decided to honour Rhaegar by naming my child either Aegon or Visenya. I…."

Before she could say anything else, Lyanna heard a rustle behind her. Turning around, she laid her eyes- which went wide as if seeing a ghost- at a silver haired man with his back to her. Lyanna saw the figure in the red and black armour move his head from the left to the right, the hair silver with areas of red splotched all over. Lyanna's heart started to race as she took a step forward, at the same time wondering what was happening. She recognised the armour, she recognized everything about the man to stood in front of her.

However, recognition still hadn't surprised her when he turned around with a confused look on his face. Their eyes locked, each in disbelief. Lyanna shifted her eyes down to his chest plate where the armour was visibly cracked, the three headed dragon sigil adorning the chest plate ruined with the rubies that lined the edges and the eyes of the dragons missing. Lyanna's eyes then shoot back up to the man's eyes as the stood in shock several feet apart.

"Rhaegar?" Lyanna whispered before running towards the man. She was laughing and crying at the same time while she watched Rhaegar take several stepped forward before stepping back as she jumped into his arms.

"Lyanna. My Lyanna," Rhaegar whispered, tears in his eyes as he hugged Lyanna tight, "is.. is this the afterlife? Is this…"

Suddenly, the both of them, while still holding each other, turned their heads towards the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces. Their eyes widened in surprise when a blue hued breech opened wide; the two of them stepped back… hearts racing, while Rhaegar pushed Lyanna behind him while reaching for the pommel of his missing sword. It was then tat he remembered that the grip around his sword loosened the moment Robert slammer his Warhammer into Rhaegar's chest. "Step back, Lyanna," Rhaegar said while they stared at the breach close, but not before they heard a woman scream upon exiting the breach.

"Son of a bitch!" Buffy yelled before she hit the soft grass covered ground close to the bank of the lake. The two of them heard a thud, looked at each other with confusion on their faces, and then rushed over to the mysterious woman. The two held their hands together, all the while wondering if this was a dream or if they were now in the afterlife, while they ran. Rhaegar and Lyanna wanted to belief that all this was real… that they were really alive, 'but I died', Rhaegar thought to himself, 'I remember I died.'

But then again, he couldn't deny the blood rushing behind his ears as he ran with Lyanna's hand in hers. He glanced at his wife, and felt warm just as he did with Elia. 'Elia? How long has it been? Months? Days? Year? Are you safe? Are you and my children safe?' The racing of his heart thinking about Elia, a political marriage between Houses Targaryen and Martell- made Rhaegar question if he was still dead. His mind was confused, just as Lyanna's was as she glanced at her husband while they ran towards the groaning woman slowly getting up to her feet.

Rhaegar and Lyanna stopped when the blonde woman, Buffy, stood up and stared at them, and then she looked around with a confused expressed on her face.

"My lady?" Rhaegar asked while Lyanna stared at Buffy curiously.

Buffy turned her head back to Rhaegar and Lyanna before asked where she was.

"Westeros," Lyanna said with so many questions forming in her mind, 'what was that thing in the sky, and who is this woman?' "Who are you?"

"Long story short?" Buffy said while the surprised couple stared at her without a word for a few seconds, "okay then," Buffy continued shaking her head, "the short story is that I'm here from another world chasing a monster that kills people. Now, have any of you seen any thing weird out her? Other than me, I mean."

And all Rhaegar and Lyanna could do upon hearing that story was stare at Buffy.

"Oh, my name's Buffy by the way." Buffy said, "well? Anything?"

 **The Army of the Dead, three weeks away from Winterfell.**

One half of the legendary sword, Excalibur, in his hands, Collin was thrust out of the breach and found himself landing on his feet in front of a vast army of dead people, animals, and giants. He extended his fangs while his eyes yellowed, his hand gripped the handle on the sword tightly as he stared at the dead stopping their march. He growled at the ones in his line of sight before looking up upon hearing the sound of a screech emanating from the clouds.

He looked up and saw a dragon with damaged wings and blue eyes flying high over his head. Collin saw that dragon bank left, the rider staring right back at him with glowing blue eye. And all he could do was sneer while tightening his hold on his half of Excalibur.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Winterfell Crypts, Now.**

The last thing Eddard Stark remembered was the blade of his own great sword, Ice, being swung down towards the back of his neck. Ned felt the cold steel for just an instant before everything turned black, and then there was a bright flash of white light, and now he found himself back in the Winterfell Crypts. He was looking up at his own statue, a grim look on his face while thinking, 'is this it?' Ned turned and looked around at the tombs, 'is this where I…' Before he could ask himself if the afterlife of the Old Gods represented the crypts of Winterfell, Ned found himself staring at the tomb a few steps down from his own, 'Lyanna.'

The former Lord of Winterfell then began walking away from his own statue to the statue of his sister. A few steps later, the man stopped in front of his sister and whispered, "Are my sins the reasons why you, father, and mother are not here to greet me?" Ned asked the cold statue of his sister in a gentle voice, "perhaps this is what I deserve. I did not listen when you told me Robert was someone you never wanted, I did not listen when you told me that he would never keep to one bed." Ned then lifted his shoulders and sighed while shaking his head as he recalled hearing about the bastards Robert sired during his time as Hand, "I promised to keep your child safe."

Ned stared at Lyanna's face with tears in his eyes as he remembered the small babe he held in his arms at the tower in the Red Mountains of Dorne, "I named him Jon. I.." Ned's voice broke slightly before looking down at the tomb next to the statue, "I gave him all the love I could. I… I should have done more to swing Catelyn to care for him and… but that was perhaps my greatest sin." Ned whispered that Jon had grown up without the love of a mother.

Ned took a deep breath and then whispered looking back up into the rocky eyes of his sister staring coldly back at him. 'I loved him Lya', Ned thought before he whispered, his voice carrying through the still air. "I didn't want to. Perhaps I could have told him once I trusted Catelyn… once I loved her with all my heart, I could have told her and then told Jon. I wanted him safe… I saw what the Lannisters did to Prince Aegon, Princess Rhaenys, and to Princess Elia… and because their deaths haunt me still- I could not afford to have Cat's attitude towards Jon change." Ned closed his eyes as he imagined how angry his wife would have been for lying all those years, for torturing her mind and spirit. He also imagined the change in her attitude once she was told the truth, 'she could have slowly come to accept him, maybe even love him. But that change would have brought about questions. And the North is not safe from the Southern spies.'

Ned wondered what would have happened if a spy happened to learn of the change in Catelyn's attitude towards Jon, followed by an accidental revelation by the boy himself of his true bloodline, 'Robert would have killed Jon. And we could have been exiled. Or worse.'

"You were selfish," Ned heard a female voice whisper in his ear as he lowered his head and wiped the welled up tears in his eyes. It was Lyanna's voice hissing through his ear in anger at how Jon received no love… no motherly love from Catelyn. "You stood by and watched him be ignored when he deserved love as well."

Ned nodded his head agreeing with the imaginary voice before looking away from the statue, "then when the time came, I allowed him to go to the Wall. A den of murderers, thieves, and rapists- and I sent him there. A boy I thought of as a son and…." Ned felt a warmth go through his body as he looked back up at Lyanna before exclaiming as tears went down his cheeks, "and I said nothing!" Ned panted and looked away before continuing, "every time he asked me about you, I told him that I could not speak about his mother… that it was either not right or it hurt." Ned looked back up to be judged by the statue in what he believed was his own personal hell… his purgatory, "the look of sadness on Jon's face… the thought of not knowing." Ned fell on his knees and lowered his head in shame, "I was afraid. I wanted to tell him. I wanted to see him happy. I wanted him to know you were his mother… that your bones were here for him to pray over and…" he then looked back up, "but I couldn't. I feared he would accidently let it slip who he was in truth, if someone had made him angry. IT would take only one slip, and Robert would be at Winterfell's walls to claim Jon. And I would never have let him go… but Robert would have burned the castle to the ground, killed my family and Jon in his rage."

Ned looked away from Lyanna and pushed himself off the hard ground. He then looked at the tomb and shook his head, "why didn't you tell me, Lya. Why didn't you tell father that you ran off with Rhaegar? Why didn't you tell me you were married?" But once he asked that question, Ned knew the answer. Lyanna didn't believe in him or their father, or Brandon. He recalled once again how angry Lyanna had been at the both him and Brandon. Ned would talk up Robert, telling her about how he was a good man and that he would change his whoring ways once they were married.

'And you were mad at Brandon for talking about duty- that it was your duty to marry Robert,' Ned thought as he looked away from the statue of his sister in shame.

"He will never keep to one bed," Lyanna growled at the two of them after the meal in the great hall at Herranhall, "did the both of you not see the oaf chasing those girls? He was pawing at them! He even took one of them to bed!"

"Lya…"

"He was kissing one of them in front of me!" she yelled while one hand was pointing towards the entrance to one of the tents in the Stark encampment,

"HE is a good man, Lya," Ned whispered while Benjen tried to calm her down, "he…"

"You say he is a good man one more time and I swear to the old gods that a mag of ale will be sailing towards your head, brother," Lyanna hissed while wagging her finger at Ned. "You of all people know the kind of man he is, and you are the one I trusted to change father's mind." Ned stared at Lyanna while rubbing the back of his head, "but you didn't. And now… and now what do I do? If a man cannot stop his impulses when his betrothed is right there watching him try to fuck one of the wenches, then he will not stop trying to fuck others after a marriage."

Ned remembered the rage in his sister's eyes as he stared at the stone pair staring back at him in the crypts, 'she stormed out.. saying she was going riding and that she didn't want any one of us with her.'

Ned was reminiscing about his sister when he heard the scuffle of footsteps from behind. The noise pulled him out of his memories, 'this is purgatory', thought Ned to himself upon hearing a gasp from behind him, 'maybe the gods have…"

"Ned?"

Ned turned to his left and stepped back in surprise before a smile came upon his face. He stared at the two men standing there as tears welled in his eyes. He was not alone in purgatory, he was not alone.

"Benjen," Ned whispered at his brother who was still wearing his Night Watch uniform. He then turned his head to looked at the bearded man Stark armour, "father." Benjen turned back to his left and hugged Rickard Stark, the two of them holding each other tight as Ned rushed forward. "I wish we did not have to meet like this in Purgatory, but I am not ashamed to say that I am glad the both of you are here," Ned said as he hugged his confused father tight while placing a hand on Benjen's shoulder.

"Why are we in the Crypts, Ned," Richard asked as Ned slowly pulled away from the hug, "the last thing I remember was feeling as if I was being cooked alive over wildfire, what happened? Where is Brandon?"`

"Ned," Benjen interjected looking around before Ned could answer, "have you seen Catelyn? Robb? If this is what I think it is then…"

"Benjen," Ned said with eyes wide open in shock as he processed what his brother had just said. 'Why would Catelyn and Robb be here and…' Ned's eyes went wide in shock before he whispered, "why would Catelyn and Robb…"

"Ned, Benjen," Richard said looking at the two of then as they stared at each other, "what is happening? Who is Robb, and…"

"Benjen?" Ned interrupted as he stared at his brother.

"We must speak," Benjen whispered while he rubbed the back of his head, "there is much you must know… much the both of you must know."

 **The Godseye.**

"A.. Another world?" Lyanna whispered while staring in complete confusion at the blonde-haired woman in the strange armour; she saw what looked like black velvet covering her body with hardened sections in specific areas such as her arms, legs, chest, and abdomen. And then she shifted her gaze to the hilt of a slender sword on her back, and then to the wooden stakes and the knife on her hip while Rhaegar furrowed his eyebrows.

"Another world," Buffy repeated staring at the two stunned people in front of her. She looked around behind her and noticed the lake with an island in the middle that looked to be shrouded in fog. She then tuned her head the other way past the two figures looking at each other and whispering before setting her eyes on what appeared to be melted towers of a castle in the distance. She frowned, wondering where she was, before turning to the two in front of her. It was then that she noticed the dress worn by the dark haired woman, 'more like a night gown' Buffy thought staring at the stains of blood on the dress and down the woman's legs. Buffy could tell that the blood was still fresh before looking at the silver haired man' she noticed his lilac eyes, and then the cracked armour with the three headed dragon emblem on the chest piece, 'seriously, where am I? This looks like I'm somewhere in the Middle Ages.' Buffy then shook her head before asking, "are you sure you saw nothing? He came through the breach before I did and… well…. He should be here."

'Or was he already here and…' Buffy stepped back staring at the two people who were about to open their mouths, 'that guy… Amy called him Colin… he had fangs. He was a Vampire. Did he…' Buffy reached for a hidden notch on her belt while she stared at the two figures, the male calling her "my Lady" before asking if she was alright.

Buffy answered by saying, "the two of you are bleeding, and I need to know that you haven't been turned."

"Turned?" Rhaegar asked before looking at a confused Lyanna, and then back at Buffy who took out a small silver coloured container from a hidden pocket on the belt hugging her waist, "my Lady, what are you…?"

"I need to be sure," Buffy said before shaking the container in her hand and then throwing it at the two humans.

"Lyanna!" Rhaegar yelled pushing her back as the container exploded in mid-air releasing a spray of liquid that landed the two of them but nothing happened much to Buffy's relief as she relaxed her muscles. Rhaegar turned to Lyanna and asked if she was hurt and sighed in relief at the shaking of her head. Rhaegar then turned to Buffy and raised his voice demanding to know why she attempted to attack them.

"That monster I'm chasing," Buffy said taking a step forward once she was sure the blast of holy water wasn't effective on the two people in front of her, "it… well…" Buffy then shook her head before asking the two of them why it was they were bleeding. "in my world, the thing I'm after is called a Vampire." She then nodded at the blood on Lyanna, "and it craves blood."

"Vampire?"

Buffy shook her head at Rhaegar before continuing, "it's a dead body that has been occupied by a demon. A demon that drinks blood by biting.." Buffy pointed to the side of her neck while Rhaegar and Lyanna stared back at her in stunned silence, "... the neck or…" she then waved her hand over her body, "… anywhere else really. But they prefer the neck. Anyway, the Vampire I'm chasing opened a doorway to wherever here is. And I went in after him and.. well… landed here."

"Demons that drink blood?" Rhaegar whispered before looking over at Lyanna, "I… I never read about such things in the prophecy."

"Prophecy?" It was now Buffy's turned to be confused while the three of them stood at the bank of the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces. She was about to ask them what prophecy they were talking about when she opened her eyes wide and grimaced in pain while she pressed her left hand against the left side of her head.

Rhaegar and Lyanna watched in confusion as the woman in front of them grimaced in pain before getting down on one knee and yelling out, "arrgh!" The yell brought the two of them out of their confusion before Lyanna, followed by Rhaegar, rushed to Buffy. Lyanna crouched and placed her hand on Buffy's left shoulder while Rhaegar stood over the both of them- the latter asking Buffy if she was feeling pain from the fall into the cold waters of the Godseye.

"Or is it something else?" Lyanna asked.

Buffy shook her head while her eyes were closed shut. Images of buildings and people, fires and destruction, were rushing through her mind. She felt as if she was having one of the prophetic dreams, except this time she was not sleeping.

"I…" Buffy panted as the pain faded and she opened her eyes to see two worried faces looking back at her. Getting her bearings once again, Buffy continued to pant while her heart raced. She shook her head after a few seconds and said, "this may sound strange but I… I need to…" Buffy then realized that the two people in front of her may think she's crazy if she told them that she had a prophetic vision of the end of the world, 'I saw zombies with blue eyes, three dragons burning a castle close to some kind of an ice wall… who would even want to build an ice wall? Then the dead marched throughout this entire place until there was nothing alive. And leading them was the guy with the sword… he was riding one of the dragons'. Buffy bit her lower lip before getting to her feet.

And as Lyanna got up as well, Buffy continued to think to herself, 'but these two saw me shoot out of a portal. They didn't freak out that much when I mentioned being from another world. But then again… they could be trying to process what just happened…' Buffy then took a deep breath before she said, "I think I might know where to find the monster I'm looking for. I…"

"So, we're ignoring that painful spell you just went through?" Lyanna asked.

"What happened?" Rhaegar added. Buffy looked back at him before she turned back towards Lyanna and rubbed her forehead, 'just forget about how handsome this guy is, I have a job to do'.

"I just remembered I have to go somewhere," Buffy said.

"You mentioned coming from another world," Rhaegar said, "which means you are not from here. So how could you know where you must go?"

"Right," Buffy said putting her hands on her hips and turned to Lyanna before asking the very question that had been on her mind since she appeared on this new world, "how about you tell me why you have blood all over you? If the vampire I'm chasing didn't do that to you, then how come you have blood all over you."

"Well…," Lyanna hesitated for an instant while Rhaegar reached for her hand, "the last thing I remember is dying."

"Dying?" Buffy narrowed her eyes.

"And then I found myself here with Rhaegar," Lyanna continued, "and we were already here for several minutes before you appeared through that portal in the sky."

Buffy was about to say something when Rhaegar interrupted her by adding, "I died too, and then I found myself here."

"The two of you died?" asked Buffy stepping forward as she reached out an arm, "okay, the both of you aren't vampires, that holy water would have burned you. Now…"

"Holy water?" Lyanna and Rhaegar asked.

"Water that has been blessed," Buffy said with an arm reached out towards Lyanna, "give me your arm, I want to check if you're alive."

"We are alive," Rhaegar said.

"Humour me then," Buffy shot back with a frown as he stared at Rhaegar before she turned back towards Lyanna who extended her right arm. Buffy then felt for a pulse, and sighed in relief and confusion when she found what she was searching for. She then checked for Rhaegar's pulse and said, "so you two really are alive."

"We died… I died from childbirth and Rhaegar died in battle," Lyanna said before Rhaegar stepped in to say that they had answered Buffy's questions, and now it was time for her to answer theirs.

Buffy nodded her head and said, "in my world, I'm what's called a Slayer." Buffy saw that she was about to be interrupted and so held her hand up while telling the two of them to let her finish. The two of them nodded before she continued on, "I'm a little stronger and faster than normal people, and I sometimes have visions that come true. Usually I have the dreams when I'm asleep, but never when I'm awake. Until now."

"Visons?" Rhaegar said, an expression of awe on his face, "and do these visions come true?"

"Most times," Buffy said nodding her head. She then went on to explain her vision in great detail, and the more she spoke, the more surprised Lyanna and Rhaegar seemed to get. Once she was finished, the two Westerosi looked at each other and then back at Buffy.

"The Long Night is here," Rhaegar said as he recounted what Buffy said about a section of an enormous ice wall collapsing and the dead walking through into Westeros, "but how long has it been since our deaths?".

"We need to get to Winterfell, Rhaegar," Lyanna said, "I don't know if Ned knows what's happening, but we need to still send a warning somehow. And we can find out then how much time has passed."

"But first I must get word to Dragonstone- my hope is that Elia and the children are alive… that Robert has not…" It was then that Rhaegar saw the look on Lyanna's face. "Lyanna?"

"There.. there are things you should know, my love," Lyanna whispered with an expression of sadness on her face. And suddenly, Rhaegar felt a chill run up his spine as Lyanna held his hand, "It's about Elia and the children."

 **The Great Hall, Winterfell.**

He had to run.

He had to run and come up with a new plan for vengeance. The last thing he remembered was waking up in the relatively empty Great Hall in Winterfell. He ran once the servants in the Hall where he suddenly appeared ran screaming in fear at the sudden appearance of a man who was killed in that place. The very place where he had his trial, 'she put me on trial', he angrily thought before his mind went back to the Stark sister who slashed his throat.

'I protected her and she dared to kill me?!' he wanted to yell. He saved her. He protected her. He would have made her queen of the Seven Kingdoms. And he would have been her King. As he ran into the hallway, the man heard yells and screams all over the castle as, unknown to him, people started to appear out of thin air.

But all this man was concentrating on was using whatever was happening as a distraction. He needed to get out of Winterfell and come up with a new plan. A plan that would aid his revenge against the Starks and to take Sansa as his own.

'I will return,' he thought to himself before he grabbed a frightened older woman and smashed her head against the wall. He then took off her cloak and wrapped it around himself before continuing on through the hallway. He lowered the hood over his face to hide his identity as he rushed onwards. 'Oh I will come for you, Sansa.'

And Petyr Baelish disappeared into the crowd of people in the courtyard before making it out of the gates of Winterfell.

'You will be mine. You will be mine.'

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

**Beyond the Wall, several minutes earlier, just before Buffy arrived in Westeros.**

Collin stared at the army of dead men, women, children, and even animals in front of him while he gripped the hilt of the sword tightly. Hearing the flapping of wings above him, he looked up and smiled at the dead dragon roaring into the air while flying in circles as the dead crowd in front of him parted. Collin's eyes tracked the dragon as it landed with a thump before roaring at him from several feet away.

Colin could smell the stench of death in the breath of the dragon as it roared at him. His eyes shifted form the dragon rearing back its head to the rider – a blue skinned man with a crown of ice on his head wearing dark armour. Collin smirked as the man opened his mouth and roared in rage pointing his left arm in Collin's direction.

As the dragon began to lean forward, its head about to snap towards him, Collin extended his fangs and yellowed his eyes before roaring at the dragon. However, that didn't stop the dragon from firing a stream of blue and black flame out of its mouth. Collin raised the sword and held it in front of him – he could fee the glare of the rider as the blade absorbed the flame.

Once the stream was gone, Collin lowered the weapon and smirked at the rider.

"I have come for my army," Collin said out loud glaring at the rider, "and I will kill you to get it." The rider screamed in anger, silently ordering the dragon to fire again. But the stream of flame was absorbed into the sword once again. And Collin grinned, "no, I will have your army. They will follow me and I will bring back the one I love before making the world suffer for my pain it put me through."

The Rider, the Night King, roared again before jumping off the back of the dragon and landing on the snow-covered ground. He bared his teeth at the unknown man, like a predator would do to a prey, and then strode forward. His feet crunching against the snow beneath him while taking out a sword of ice from the scabbard on his right hip. Then three feet away, the Night King stopped and tilted his head. He saw the fangs and the man's yellow eyed, but he sensed that the man before him was between life and death.

The Night King reached out to command the part of the man that was dead, to drop his weapon and follow him in his army. But that wasn't working at all. The man still stood there, with a smirk on his lips. He knew there was only on outcome now, he would have to kill the man in front of him… the one who dared issue a challenge; the one who dared threaten him. No, the man would be killed and then added to his army of the dead.

The Night King stepped forward and raised his sword.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," Collin grinned before leaping at the Night King with a growl. Their two swords met with a 'clang'. And the fight began in earnest. Each one not giving the other any quarter while the army of the dead surrounded them, and the Dragon reared its head back and then roared up into the grey cloud covered sky. The fight between them went on for several moment, the Night King would stab and Collin would parry away the thrust; Collin would swing the sword up, and the Night King would step back before rushing forward with a follow through. The both of them using their unnatural strength to keep the other at bay.

The other of them healing their own injuries just as fast. In the end, the battle between them came down to who wanted control of the army more. The Night King or Collin. It was the latter who desired vengeance, the one who was fighting for the return of the love he lost, and there was nothing going to stand in his way. He pounded the Night King who could only defend with his sword as he was pushed back. The Night King wanted to do what he was created to do, destroy the enemies of nature – an order imbued upon him by the Children of the Forest. He was created to lead an army of the dead – an army made up of the enemy of the Children.

An army of Man. Dead men, women, and children.

He had no motivations of conquest; he was just going to lead the army against all enemies of nature. Eventually, even the Children began taking the side of Man. So the Night King ordered the Children to be targeted as well… and this began the first Long Night.

All the Night King was doing was following the directive given to him. The one known as the Thre Eyed Raven knew what he was doing, he knew his every move, so the Three Eyed Raven was marked for death.

But Collin wanted power more than the Night King. The man screamed out in rage as he beat the Night King back. Eventually, the fight was done… The Night King stared into the face of rage. The face of someone who wanted his power and his army for more than a simple order.

The Night King looked down at the sword that was plunged into his chest, shattering the dragon glass forced into him thousands of years ago. And then he felt his magic, the very magic keeping the army of the dead under his control seeping into the sword and then into the body of the man. He saw the evil grin across the man's face.

And then there was a flash of memory. The Night King remembered. For the first time in over eight thousand years her remembered who he was. He remembered a smiling wife with golden hair, six children running around them – four boys and two girls. And then he remembered the war, he was fight several of the Children along with his comrades. Even after their death, he was still fighting despite being bleeding profusely from several cuts. He could hear the command to retreat, but he was badly injured. The next thing he knew, the man he used to be was healed and tied to a tree… one of the trees his people, The First Men, called the bastion of evil. He stared at the Children who were in a circle as they whispered before one of them looked back at him.

And then, despite the gag in his mouth, he screamed as one of the Children pushed the shard of Dragonglass into him.

And now, the last thing the Night King saw was the man looking down at him while he felt himself withering away.

Collin saw the rider whither away into a shrivelled mass before looking up at the army of the dead staring back at him. He the turned to the dragon, and with his sward in his head, walked towards the mythical beast.

"Time to build my army before we go to my world, huh, Boy?"

 **Winterfell, now.**

While Littlefinger was making his way out of the ancient castle, while numerous people suddenly started to appear out of thin air, Bran was in his chambers staring out at the flame in the hearth. It crackled while burning the wood, the warmth brushing his skin as he stared silently into the flames as he calmed his mind. Bran felt as if he lost the sense of who he was, he told himself that Meera was correct in saying that Bran died in the caves that fateful day.

'Perhaps I died the day we made it into that cave,' Bran thought to himself without emotion showing in his face. That was the day that Summer died, the day that Hodor died while Bran was walking in the past. Bran knew he was the reason for Willis, the Winterfell stable boy, becoming Hodor. Bran knew that he was the one who took away his future, 'but in the end, he saved my life.'

Bran's lips were pressed together for the past few minutes, there was a look of unfamiliar confusion on his face. He felt magic, strange unnatural magic, brush against his skin. He concentrated and was shown images in his mind of things that were simply not possible. He saw a fight between a stranger in strange clothing battling the Night King while the latter's army just stood waiting for the winner – with the dragon in the middle of the vast army; then Bran saw the reunion of the long dead Mountain, who rushed into a lavishly decorated room with Tywin Lannister by his side. The latter yelling at a sobbing Cersei who was son her feet kneeling in front of the dead Joffrey Baratheon whose blood was now pooling on the expensive carpet. Bran was surprised… he knew that the Mountain, Joffrey, and Tywin were dead… and now here they were alive – he saw Cersei look up at the two of them with her hands covered in blood from trying to stop her son from bleeding. There was also blood on her face from when she was screaming out in anguish while she rubbed her face with her hands as she called out for help.

Bran's vison then switched to Dorne where Doran Martell was yelling at Oberyn Martell, the latter looked confused while shaking his head. The image was fleeting, there was a flash before the next image – but before the image changed, Bran saw a figure walk into the room with the two brothers… a female… a female whose dress was torn and covered in blood. She stumbled into the room and the two brothers turned and yelled her name before rushing towards her.

"ELIA!"

And then Bran was somewhere else. He stared in surprise at the blonde-haired woman in strange clothes walking towards a very distraught man. The man fell onto his knees while a dark-haired woman went down on her knees, and gently placed the head of the sobbing man onto her shoulder. Bran had seen them before – in his past visions.

'Prince Rhaegar, Aunt Lyanna,' he thought to himself. Then more visions rushed into his mind. He saw, on Dragonstone, a bloodied silver haired woman who looked to be in her thirties was on a bed staring at a confused Dothraki just as a Maester rushed into the room. Bran's mind then switched to a confused Dothraki standing alone on the plains of the Dothraki Sea with a toddler in his arms.

'Drogo and Rhaego,' Bran thought as he recalled having seen the death of both Danaerye's husband and son when he received the missive that Jon was bringing the Dragon Queen to Winterfell. He then saw Sansa, Brienne, and Ser Davos… the later crouching down and reaching out for a little girl in bloody silks. The visions then came hard and fast, Bran gritted his teeth as he watched the dead come back to life. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He saw people he thought he would never see again.

And just then, there was a soft growl behind him.

Bran wanted to believe it was a dream. But he knew better. The Three Eyed Raven knew better. He felt fur brush against the arm resting on the armrest of the wheelchair. His breath hitched as his eyes shifted towards the right. He glimpsed the light from the fire reflecting against silvery-grey fur. Bran turned his head, and widened his eyes at the sight before him.

He widened his eyes in recognition of the golden eyes staring back.

Bran was the Three Eyed Raven, a role that gave him the ability to look into the present, the past, and the future. Images would be going through his mind non-stop… so much so that his sleep was disturbed, and the sheer amount of information through his mind meant it was taking a toll on his emotions. He would say things that he was not supposed to say, especially if it was the wrong time to speak. He couldn't even remember the last time he smiled.

But smile he did. It was a small smile as he stared at the direwolf that was walking towards him.

"Summer," he said. The direwolf whined as he rushed at Bran, and then placed his head on his thigh. Bran placed his hand gently on the direwolve's head and stroked the fur.

"Hello, Hodor," Bran whispered before looking over his shoulder once he sensed another presence.

"Hodor?"

"Welcome home," Bran said, turning his chair around to look at the man who held the door to the cave of the Three Eyed Raven closed. It was that act that saved him and Meera as they fled into the cold waste of the Far North. There was dried blood from the scratches on his body, Bran could see the places where the dead tore his flesh… all left now were scars, "I am sorry, Hodor."

"Hodor," the stable boy shook his head, telling Bran that he wasn't at fault.

Bran took in a deep breath. Internally, he was so happy. He didn't know how Hodor, Catelyn, and Robb were still alive… but they were.

"Hodor," Bran said, "lets get you some new clothes."

"Hodor," Hodor nodded his head.

"And then I need to go down to the crypts," Bran said, "our family is nearly complete once again. And the Night King is…"

Bran stopped talking and stared into the distance in disbelief while Hodor furrowed his eyebrows and whispered, in concern, as he kneeled and looked into Bran's eyes.

"Hodor?"

Bran suddenly blinked after a few seconds, and his eyes focused on Hodor, and then on Summer, and back to a concerned Hodor, "the Night King is dead." But there was no smile on Bran's face, "the dead are still coming under a new leader. Forget the crypts for now, take me to the guest rooms on the southern side. That is where Jon and the Dragon Queen will be. He needs to know this."

"Hodor," Hodor nodded his head.

Hodor grabbed the handles at the back of the chair and gently pushed Bran towards the door. After opening it, the young man looked up at the two guards whose eyes widened while they reached for their swords upon seeing Hodor.

How did a man as large as that go past them; that was the prevailing thought in their minds. And then their eyes went down to the direwolf, there was no creature that walked past them and then last they checked, Bran was alone.

"Find Sansa in her solar," Bran said before he tilted his head and looked out into space for a few seconds before looking back up at the guards, "inform her that she and the Princess she is with had to meet Jon in the Dragon Queen's chambers." Bran then turned the other guard, "find Arya, tell her that I would like her to go down to the crypts to my father's tomb. And then from there, she is to meet us in the Dragon Queen's chambers as well."

"Lord Bran… about this man… he…"

"He will not harm me, and neither will my direwolf," Bran spoke in an even tone staring up at the guards, "now go." He then turned to the one he ordered to send a message to Arya, "Arya would be in the dungeons locking up the Prince. Now go. Tell her to go to my fathers tomb."

 **Jon's Solar, at that same time.**

It had been nearly five minutes since Brienne, who was guarding the door to the Solar, rushed in after Ser Davos went past her with a look of worry on her face. The latter had told Jon that the Queen had been attacked, and then the both of them rushed out. But not before Jon ordered Brienne to stay with Sansa. She nodded her head before walking inside, her hand on the hilt of her sword as she eyed Sansa go down on one knee.

'Is there something under the desk?' Brienne thought. She walked around the great table and was surprised to find the dark haired little girl who wore a bloody silken dress cowering on the corner while her eyes were shut tight.

"Sweetling," Sansa said reaching out slowly with her left hand, "my name is Sansa Stark, I…"

The girl then opened her eyes and her bottom lips trembled before she spoke so softly that the two women had to lean in slightly to hear, "mamma… mamma… told… told me… told me to go… go before… before the monsters…"

"Monsters?" Brienne asked as she kneeled down as well. She and Sansa looked at each other curiously.

"The dead?" Sansa whispered glancing at Brienne.

"You Stark?" the girl asked Sansa, her eyes still showing her fear.

"Daughter of the Warden of the North," Sansa answered gently, "you are in Winterfell."

"Mamma said… said I have to leave… a bird… a bird take me to ship… and…." The girl sniffed before wiping her tears, "the ship take… take me to North. And Winterfell."

Sansa was confused. 'What is she talking about? What bird? Who will take her to Winterfell? Who is she?'

"What is your name?" Sansa asked.

"R… Rhaenys… of… of… of House Targaryen."

And Sansa and Brienne's eyes widen in stunned silence.

TBC.


End file.
